What a cackling female may do (3)
I believe the answer is:
lay
'do' is the definition.
(I know that lay is a type of devise)
I don't understand how the remainder of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lay that I've seen before include "bed" , "Not ordained; song" , "Narrative poem" , "in which hens regularly produce eggs?" , "Place on a surface" .)